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Kaplan, Bruce
4 Reviews
(4)
K-3
The highbrow New Yorker's reliably droll cartoonist aims somewhat lower with this yarn about the Krupke family, which finds itself overwhelmed by a terrible odor while riding in the car. A chain reaction of funny (and unsavory) responses lands them in jail and then in court. Kaplan's spare ink and watercolor art on white backdrops is humorously crude if sometimes slipshod.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
"There's nothing sillier than fighting about what belongs to whom, but no kids and even fewer adults know that." A scuffle between siblings Eve and Henry turns into a battle of mass destruction: Henry scorches the neighborhood, Eve bulldozes the town, etc. Kaplan's signature dark humor is delivered through zippy sentences and spare ink and watercolor illustrations against plenty of white space.
Reviewer: Chelsey Philpot
(4)
K-3
When his mother's Martian cousin Irv visits, Teddy resents sharing his room and listening to Irv's music; then again, when Irv vaporizes his teacher, Teddy's popularity soars. New Yorker cartoonist Kaplan's spare, angular illustrations are suited to a children's story, but the sardonic finished product amounts to a picture book for adults (Irv carries stress in his neck and doesn't like Earth coffee).
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
Henry and Eve's father warns them about what happens to whiny children. Sure enough, a monster steals the siblings for supper. But back "on the bad side of town," the monsters can't decide on a preparation (salad, burgers, or "whiny-child vindaloo"?). Kaplan's ink and watercolor illustrations are amusingly crude, and the deadpan humor will please parents as much as children.
Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen
4 reviews
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